DeterminationBy Niels Strautnieks

"this I Believe"

5th Grade

Essay Assignment

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This is a story about my life and how I survived it with determination. This is what I face today -- Mito, Epilepsy, ADHD, Immune Deficiency, Type One Diabetes, Adrenal Suppression, Growth Hormone Issues, Reactive Airway Disease, and much more. I was born with a disease called Mito. It is a problem that doctors can't solve and can not prevent. But this Mito is weird. It makes me feel tired, and over time, it triggers more and more diseases. When I was in Kindergarten, at Haverford, in the middle of the school year my mom realized that I was changing. So, she pulled me out of Haverford and put me into Shipley School. Shipley is a more flexible community. When I got there, not everything was so great. One, I had no friends. Two, I was scared and alone. Three, I was different and I did not even know it.My first goal was to make a friend. During the second day of Shipley Kindergarten, I asked all the boys in my class, “Will you please be my friend?“ They all said “No” and rejected me harshly. Even though they were mean, at first, I was determined to make a friend. So, three days later, I finally made a friend. Her name was Sage. She was nice, but I wanted to make friends with a boy. The next day, I asked a kid named Sam if he would be my friend. He said, “Yes.” Finally, I got a friend! Then he said, “You need to be my second best friend, ok?” I still said, “Yes.” I made a friend with determination. If It wasn't for determination, I would not have friends. That spring, the gunner got angry and serious. My Mito finally pulled the trigger. BAM! My Mito gave me Type One Diabetes. All my friends made me a huge poster for me to hang in my hospital room. I still have it. (more on p. 3)Mito is an energy problem. My cells do not make energy very well. So, my doctor arranged for a muscle biopsy to find out how I was making energy. The muscle biopsy confirmed that I had Mito.When I was in first grade I had a lot of trouble. I was, BAM hyperactive, BAM forgetful, and BAM I could not learn how to read and write. One thing that was really bad was that BAM my math skills started to disappear. The doctors did a test called a MRI where they put me to sleep. When they took the breathing tube out, my airway swelled shut. The doctors had to give me 2 full doses of prednisone to open my airway. After that I took the day off. When I was in the car going to the park I asked questions to my mom and had conversations that my mom had not heard from me for 1 year. My mom thought that I was back for good and here to stay. But I was only there for about 12 to 13 hours. That was the only day of that year that I remember today. That was my one and only memory of first grade. My mom was searching and searching for a cure. She was trying to find out what the doctors gave to me on that day and she was determined to find out. So we came to a doctor that specialized in Mito. There are so few Mito doctors in the world. So we find out what the medicine is the doctors used on me on that day. It was prednisone . There are a few things about this medicine though. There are 4 main things: 1 it makes your bones fragile. 2 it makes you very overweight. 3 it makes your heart too thick. 4 it can make you grow super slow. luckily I only have 1 of these things and that is 4. I grow slow and i’m fine with that. Finally my mom says yes to the pred. It is second grade and I'm on the pred. It takes a while for it to work though. It does and there are 3 months of school left. Guess what, BAM trigger, but it’s only a wound. I have big cheeks so the next few weeks everyone is asking “ Niels what's up with the big cheeks.” And I say, “It’s this new medicine I’m taking.” Every day for a week they ask. I tell them to stop and they stop.

Its third grade now and I'm doing ok when BAM epilepsy, BAM adrenal suppression, BAM immunodeficiency and many more triggers were pulled that I did not know about. BAM I get hit with a regression during spring break. I get swimmer's ear and my eardrum ruptures. That hits me hard. I can only read and write like a first grader. My mom knows how to treat a wound though. She brings out the flashcards and treats me with pred. I'm doing alright, but when you get shot in the leg you can't walk without help. (more on p. 4)

Third grade is over but the war ain't. BAM another regression. This one is not as bad, I probably lost an eye. I went to an air show and ate some chicken they had. That was a bad choice. When I came home I was not feeling very well. At about 4:30 I ran into the bathroom and BAM barfed. Since I'm a Mito kid guess what this means: hospital. So we got into the car. My mom and I had a one hour drive ahead of us to get to the hospital.

I want to go to sleep. I was drifting off into my own world when I feel a violent shake come from the front seat. “Niels wake up don't go to sleep.” Ten minutes later BAM I barfed all over the car. Again, another shake comes from the front seat, “DO NOT GO TO SLEEP NIELS DON'T GO”. Another 5 minutes goes by and BAM more barf. “Niels we are 5 minutes away from the hospital wait a little longer please.” OK, I will, I have determination. We made it to the hospital. My mom got me to the emergency room, and she got me to a doctor. I was ok and I survived the war.

Determination is everything. Determination is never giving up. It is doing every thing you can do succeed. It is trying your best.